1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to arm rests, and particularly, to an arm rest that can directly protect a vehicle occupant, as compared with the related art.
2. Related Art
Various airbags for protecting vehicle occupants, such as drivers, have been developed. For instance, a vehicle driver-seat airbag device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-199123 includes a main chamber that deploys in front of the driver and sub chambers that deploy at the lateral sides of the main chamber. With the main chamber and the sub chambers, the driver can be prevented from moving diagonally forward in the event of a collision.
However, in a case where the collision involves deformation of the vehicle cabin, there is a possibility that the deformed area of the vehicle cabin may directly hit against not only the driver but also a passenger. Under the existing conditions, this type of collision is dealt with by controlling the deformation of the vehicle body, deploying an airbag between the deformed area and the vehicle occupant, and so on. The use of an arm rest as a vehicle-occupant protection member is nonexistent or rare.